


The Knights Of Oz

by The_idea_master



Category: Wicked
Genre: F/F, Gelphie, Knights - Freeform, Magic, Wizard of Oz, f/f - Freeform, glinda/elpheba - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29312820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_idea_master/pseuds/The_idea_master
Summary: “You’re hurt,” Elpheba noted the gouges torn into Glinda’s armor and the bloodied scratches on her pale skin. “I could-““I’m fine,” Glinda replied harshly. “I don’t need magic.”Elpheba nodded, albeit confused, and shifted from foot to foot. “Listen, I-I need your help.”“Right.” Glinda nodded. “This makes sense. My dead friend is talking to me. Alright, let’s roll with the punches I suppose. You want my help, you walk with me back home and you tell me what the hell happened to you for the past three years.”— ——Much has changed in Oz over the past three years, and a new danger arrives.
Relationships: Gelphy, Glinda the Good/Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda/Elpheba
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Glinda knew she was in over her head the moment she saw the beast. It was six legged, lizard like, with razor sharp teeth the size of her forearm, and beady red eyes. Still, she didn’t have much of a choice. Help was more than thirty miles east, and the town was in danger of being completely demolished unless she acted fast.  
“Hey!” She yelled, capturing the beast’s attention while drawing her blade. The monster grumbled, lowered its head, and sneered. “This isn’t your home. Leave or I will make you.”  
A shiver raced down the beast’s spine, a prickly grill raised about its head, and a foul breath of air escaped its nostrils. The monster lunged, talons ready to tear her to pieces. Side stepping, Glinda arched her blade towards the thigh of the beast. It grazed the leathery skin, drawing a large pink gash across its flesh.  
Hissing in pain, a large tail flicked about catching Glinda in the side. Tumbling backwards she staggered to her feet in time to deflect a hungry bite. She punched then insert clean across the snout and skipped her blade across its nose into its eye.  
Yellow oozed across the monster’s face but Glinda miscalculated how far she’d plunged the weapon into its skull. Her sword was stuck and a large paw racked across her body. She could hear sections of her armor tearing open. The force of the hit was winding and she was tossed aside with ease.  
Hungry to draw blood, the beast pounced, tail swishing behind it like an excited dog. Snapping jaws threatened to snap Glinda up, but she wrestled its mouth open fighting off a gag at its foul breath. Arms shaking, she tried to keep control of its head but the monster was nothing but muscle. Her hands slipped, the beast’s jaws snapped shut over her arm.  
A cry of pain forced its way from her chest as she was shook about like a chew toy. But then the beast froze. It’s eyes dilated as panic set in. Something was wrapping the beast up-an invisible force. It’s head jerked violently to the side, the sound of bones snapping rang in Glinda’s ears, and she was dropped shortly after. The monster fell over in a heap of dust unmoving.  
“Magic,” she hissed, eyes full of fire ready to pounce on the person responsible when she too froze.  
Across the way, no more than thrifty feet was a girl dressed in black, weary from travel, pointed hat somewhat wilted, and green skin vibrant against the blood stained yellow road. Silence settled between the two. Glinda broke it first. “Great, this thing gives you hallucinations when it bites.”  
“Glinda?” The question was weary, afraid.  
“This is going to be a pain until it wears off,” the blonde sighed, struggling to pull her sword from the beast’s skull. “Come on!”  
“Glinda, it’s me.”  
“Yeah I know, and I’m a flying monkey.” The sword released but the force sent Glinda straight to her butt. In an instant someone was pulling her to her feet.  
“Don’t be foolish.” The voice was stern now, and Glinda felt her heart stop albeit momentarily. She pushed the girl away and held up her blade.  
“Who are you?” The blonde demanded. Her eyes were fierce but her expression was one of confusion.  
“Glinda it’s me. Elphy.”  
“She’s dead,” Glinda frowned, her sword still poised for an attack.  
“No-I...I know that you think that. That everyone does, but I’m not. It’s me. I’m here.” Elpheba insisted, nervously eyeing the sword that could gut her.  
“Tell me one thing only Elpheba would know,” Glinda demanded.  
“Your mother’s middle name is Meredith.” Elpheba replied. “Your father’s is Raphael. They sign your letters with those names so the media won’t know it’s them. So no one takes the letters from the mail.”  
A flash of recognition morphed the blonde’s features, but her expression turned to one of uncertainty and pain. “How?”  
“It’s a long story,” Elpheba sighed, her own pasture relaxing as Glinda hesitantly sheathed her sword. “You’ve changed. A lot.”  
“Time is brutal,” Glinda frowned.  
An awkward silence settled over them again.  
“You’re hurt,” Elpheba noted the gouges torn into Glinda’s armor and the bloodied scratches on her pale skin. “I could-“  
“I’m fine,” Glinda replied harshly. “I don’t need magic.”  
Elpheba nodded, albeit confused, and shifted from foot to foot. “Listen, I-I need your help.”  
“Right.” Glinda nodded. “This makes sense. My dead friend is talking to me. Alright, let’s roll with the punches I suppose. You want my help, you walk with me back home and you tell me what the hell happened to you for the past three years.”  
“Okay,” Elpheba nodded, hands nervously holding the strap of her satchel. “How far do we have to go?”  
“30 miles,” Glinda explained, “it’ll take until night fall. I hope you haven’t grown soft after all this time.”  
“Me? Never,” Elpheba smiled faintly, “I walked all the way here didn’t I?”  
“From where?”  
“The perimeter,” the witch replied, moving carefully to match Glinda’s stride.  
“That’s far,” the blonde noted. “You spent two weeks traveling just to ask for my help?”  
“It’s important.”  
“It must be, in order to resurrect yourself from the dead,” Glinda muttered. “We can’t go into the city or they’ll kill you on sight. We go to the central camp.”  
“Camp?” Elpheba asked.  
“A lot has changed in three years,” Glinda reminded.  
“So it seems.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I never expected to find you in anything other than a dress,” Elpheba noted, eyes trained on the path before her.   
“I didn’t have much of a choice. Slaying a monster in a dress isn’t flattering,” Glinda replied, her blue eyes hard like an amethyst. It surprised Elpheba. She wasn’t used to seeing Glinda so...cold and harsh and stone like. Even when they first met she wasn’t so distant.   
“Which reminds me, why are there monsters?” The witch asked, adjusting the wilting hat on her head.   
“Magic.” Glinda said the word like it was a curse but Elpheba heard the hint of a tremble in her voice. There was a reason Glinda seemed to hate magic now.   
“You know, I wanted to tell you...but Fiyero-“  
“He helped you?” Glinda glared, her words nearly a growl. “That little bastard.”  
“Well, I thought you knew. He’s been gone you know-“  
“For three years. He said he was going home. To explain things to his family,” the blonde explained. “I didn’t expect him to come back, but at least I assumed he wasn’t keeping a secret from me. That he wasn’t lying. I should’ve known better.”  
“Glinda, if I could’ve said something I would,” Elpheba insisted.  
“Then you should have. When did you take orders from him anyways?” The blonde demanded, pausing in their walk to face the taller girl. “You don’t listen to other people Elpheba. That’s what got you into the entire mess in the first place. What changed?”  
“It was safer for you,” the witch insisted, reaching out to take Glinda’s hand but the blonde moved away.   
“Don’t make this seem like you were selfless. Like you did any of that for me.” Glinda hissed, her eyes fractured in the light. “I’m tired of being lied to. Tell me the truth. Tell me you wanted to leave with him and pretend nothing ever happened in Oz to begin with.”   
Elpheba paused. She wanted to deny Glinda’s accusations but she couldn’t. A part of them was true. “I’ve tried everything to chance him back. Nothing works.”  
“And I’m supposed to fix that how?” Glinda asked. “He’s two weeks away from here and I’m not going out to the perimeter for your boyfriend.”   
“He was yours once too, you know.” Elpheba frowned.   
“He was never mine,” Glinda shook her head. “Nothing I had was ever mine.”   
“Really, so all those dresses and gowns and the glittering jewels and the adoring fans? None of that was yours?” The witch snorted, crossing her arms.   
“No, it wasn’t.” The blonde’s voice was barely a whisper. “It was all a lie.”  
Chewing on her bottom lip, Glinda turned curtly on her heel and set back off down the path leaving Elpheba to catch up.   
“Why are you still here?” The witch’s question seemed to fall on deaf ears. “It’s been three years. You could have gone home.”   
“No,” Glinda shook her head, shoulders slumping. “You wouldn’t understand.”   
“Listen, Glinda, I don’t want to make you miserable. I didn’t want to come in the first place but I’m desperate. Fiyero...he doesn’t want to live. He-he hates himself.” Elpheba admitted, her chest tight with worry as she spoke. “I told him I’d find a way to fix him. I promised him. I don’t know what else to do.”  
“I can’t help you.”   
“Why? Because you’re selfish?”  
“No!” The blonde yelled, turning about to face the witch, “because I can’t.”  
“Why?” Elpheba demanded.  
“That spell you did-the emotions you felt while doing it made it incredibly powerful. You can’t undo something like that. You can’t take back what you poured so much into. That’s not how the laws of magic work.” Glinda fumed, her fractured eyes welling with tears. “S-selfish? Really?”  
“I’m sorry,” the witch replied, “I didn’t mean it. I’m just...afraid.”   
“I stopped being selfish a long time ago.” Glinda muttered, wiping hastily at her eyes. “But since I can’t help you, you might as well head back home. Sorry to waste your time.”   
— — —  
Head lowered, Glinda marched into the camp eyes trained on the ground as if she could set it on fire. She wanted to burn everything in her path but she couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair and it wouldn’t be right.   
“How did it go?” A dark haired girl clad in armor asked, emerging from a tent.  
“Fine,” Glinda replied. She tried to move on when a gloved hand caught her by the arm. “I don’t want to talk Genevieve.”   
“Okay,” the other girl nodded, releasing the blonde. Glinda meant to hide away in her own tent, escape the prying eyes of the other warriors and just let herself cry but she couldn’t.   
“This was an unexpected find!” A callous voice called over the ruckus of the settlement. “Can’t say I’m not surprised you tricky little bitch.”   
“Jameson,” Genevieve warned, caution hidden in her voice. Glinda turned to see what she expected.   
“You just don’t learn do you?” She whispered to herself, noting the way Jameson and his companion had tied up Elpheba’s hands at a painful angle behind her back.   
“She’s supposed to be dead!” Someone exclaimed.  
“Then kill her,” another interjected.   
“No,” Glinda shook her head, her eyes meeting those of her old friend. They were desperate, pleading. “No one does anything to her. Let her go.”   
“What?” Jameson demanded.   
“Let her go,” Glinda repeated, drawing her blade for emphasis. The man stared at her in disbelief before shoving Elpheba to the ground.   
“Then take her.” He scoffed.   
Feeling everyone’s eyes upon her, Glinda knelt beside her old friend and cut through the bonds. “You should have gone home.”   
“I’m stubborn.” Elpheba remarked, drawing the faintest smile from Glinda.   
“You’re stupid is what you are.” The blonde sighed, drawing Elpheba to her feet. “You really want my help?”  
“Please.”  
“You have to earn it.”   
“What?” The witch frowned. “Why-“  
“Earn it.” Glinda insisted. “Give me a reason to trust you again.”   
“Glinda-“Elpheba was at a loss for words. “Please.”  
“Don’t beg. It’s not a good look for you.”   
The blonde turned, and marched towards her tent when Genevieve stopped her again.   
“Are you sure about this?” The warrior asked, sparing Elpheba a glance. The witch, however, watched intently as Glinda took the hand of the other girl giving it a light squeeze. “Okay.”   
Stepping aside, Genevieve left the two women alone. Glinda led Elpheba inside the tent and took a seat on the floor, her back pressed against a metal pole of the tent’s frame.   
“Who is she?” Elpheba asked, rubbing her wrists from where the ropes had been.   
“A friend when I need it.”   
“Right.” Elpheba laughed coyly. “How often is that?”  
“If you’re suggesting I sleep with her you’re wrong,” Glinda frowned, sliding off her gloves. “Despite popular belief I don’t sleep around. I never did that and I never will.”   
“Right,” Elpheba nodded, arching a brow.   
“That was one time and it was an accident,” Glinda hissed, “besides, I didn’t know the party punch was spiked. Besides, I told you it wasn’t going to happen again and it didn’t.”  
“I know,” Elpheba nodded, tucking her hands in her pockets.  
“Besides, I don’t let anyone in here.” The blonde muttered.  
“I’m here.”   
“Don’t push it,” Glinda warned. “Sit. There’s things you should know.”   
“Like why the hell monster’s are ravaging the towns?”  
“Something like that,” Glinda nodded.   
— — —  
“When you died, things were great. Everyone was happy and they rejoiced but then people grew afraid,” Glinda explained, carefully in latching her ruined armor and setting it aside. “They thought the melting thing was all a lie. I guess it was but that’s not the point. They wanted me to prove you were dead.”   
“Couldn’t they take your word for if?” Elpheba frowned, rummaging around in her bag and pulling out a journal to take notes in.   
“No. When people are afraid they become irrational. They wanted me to find some proof of your body. To find some corpse and bring it back,” the blonde shivered. “I didn’t want to go back but I did.”  
“And?” Elpheba prodded.   
“There was nothing I could give them as proof. They knew we were friends and they turned on me. I wasn’t the good witch anymore I was just...a witch.” Glinda swallowed tightly and examined her injured arm. “They took me to Morpheus-“  
“The great sleeper,” Elpheba noted, awe clear in her voice.   
“Even he couldn’t prove you were dead.” Glinda admitted, “ I guess I know why.”  
“So what does this have to do with the monsters?” Elpheba asked, looking up from her notebook.   
“Once we woke Morpheus they haven’t stopped appearing all over Oz. No one can lull him back to sleep. They’ve tried and they’ve failed.” The blonde took off her tattered shirt and rummaged about the tent for something to dress her wounds.   
“And you decided to wield a sword,” the witch noted.   
“I taught myself. Then I taught others. I made a lot of mistakes but I learned.” Elpheba noted the pale scars running across Glinda’s back and torso. They were strange and new and nothing Elpheba had seen before. Glinda had been so perfect, so unblemished and beautiful. She still was, but now her skin told a different story.   
“Why? Why not-“  
“Use magic? Elpheba, magic has a price. It always has, and I’m tired of having to pay it.” Glinda seemed to age ten years as she spoke. Her eyes were tired and sad. They weren’t bright and curious anymore.   
“Maybe Morpheus could help me with Fiyero,” the witch suggested.  
“No.” Glinda replied curtly. “No more Morpheus no more magic.”   
“Glinda-“  
“No. I’ll escort you back through the mountains but that’s it.” The blonde insisted. “It’ll be like you never came back. Now get some sleep, the moon is out and we’ll leave early tomorrow.”   
But Elpheba’s mind was racing. If Morpheus had woken and he was this powerful. Powerful enough to create monsters, maybe he could turn someone who thought they were a monster back into a human.


	3. Chapter 3

Elpheba woke to yelling. A green flame bubbled to life in her hand. The fire illuminated the tent in a warm glow, revealing Glinda wrapped up in some sort of nightmare. Her brow was furrowed, a grimace on her face, her body curled in on itself as if she were trying to hide. “No. No!”  
“Glinda?” Elpheba reached out, gently, carefully touching the blonde’s arm. She was cold and damp with sweat. “Glinda, wake up.”   
With a small nudge, Elpheba woke the blonde who swung frantically about with her fists. The witch managed to catch Glinda’s hands and hold them in her own until the little warrior understood that she wasn’t dreaming anymore.   
“Don’t touch me!”  
Immediately, Glinda pulled her hands away and shrunk back into the small bed.   
“Sorry-I...you were dreaming. You were in pain.” Elpheba worried, not sure what else to do as Glinda tucked her knees to her chest.   
“It’s nothing new,” Glinda insisted, brushing hair out of her face. “Genevieve stopped checking on me ages ago. Sometimes I yell when I’m dreaming.”   
“Do you want to talk about it?” For a moment Glinda pondered the witch’s question.   
“No.”   
“Okay,” Elpheba nodded, still unsure of what to do. “We could head out now if you’d like. It’s early.”  
“Not when the sun is still down,” Glinda warned, her tone dark. “No one should be out when the sun is down.”   
“Is that when the monsters roam?”   
“No, the nightmares,” Glinda shook her head. “They are far worse.”   
— — —  
Glinda was outside far earlier than Elpheba. She had gathered supplies and saddled up a pair of horses. Everything was prepared for their adventure but Elpheba had yet to leave the tent.   
“Are you coming?” Glinda asked, barging into the tent where Elpheba was changing. “Don’t look so alarmed. I’ve seen you naked before.”   
“Knocking is nice you know,” the witch scowled.  
“On what? The tent flap?” Glinda asked, arching a brow. For a moment things didn’t seem so awkward. They’d spent hours razzing each other three years ago and it seemed natural to fall back into such a routine. “Just...finish up. The sooner we leave the better. Everyone else is still asleep and they won’t stone us on the way out.”   
Lingering for a moment, Glinda left the witch to her own devices and double checked the saddle bags. Everything was in order, but still she felt anxious. They had a long trip ahead and there was a good chance trouble would rear its ugly head.   
“What, we aren’t going to come and go by bubble?” Elpheba asked, tying back her hair. Glancing over her shoulder, Glinda noted the lopsided hat perched on the witch’s head. It was dull in color now and well worn.   
“We are,” the blonde remarked, patting the snout of her horse.   
“Ummm, how?” Elpheba wondered, arching a brow in question.  
“This is Bubbles,” the blonde explained, the white colored horse nodding in agreement.   
“So the black one is mine?”  
“Yep, I figured it matched the outfit,” Glinda admitted, knowing full well that Elpheba had adopted an all black attire ages ago. “Her name‘s Charolette.”   
“Bubbles and Charolette?” Elpheba smirked, finding the names quite suitable. “I like it.”   
“Saddle up,” Glinda instructed, slipping easily onto Bubbles’ back. She watched as Elpheba hesitantly studied her own horse. “You’ve never ridden before, have you?”  
“You have?”   
“My parents taught me,” the blonde informed, sliding off of Bubbles to assist Elpheba. She showed the witch how to properly saddle up and watched as Elpheba awkwardly mounted Charolette. “There. The rest is easy. Charolette knows what to do.”   
“You’re full of secrets Miss Upland, I’ll give you that,” Elpheba shook her head in mild disbelief. Glinda shrugged, and returned to Bubbles. Once she was certain that Elpheba wasn’t going to fall off, she set out at a trot.  
They took to the road just as the sun began to crest the horizon. The sound of hooves gently greeting the ground was almost enough to lull Glinda back to sleep.   
“When’s the last time you slept through the night?” Elpheba asked, almost reading Glinda’s mind.   
“I can’t remember,” Glinda sighed, but she was lying, Elpheba could tell. As much as Glinda had changed, much of her had remained the same.   
“So this Morpheus fellow,” the witch began, “do you really think he’s responsible for all of this?”  
“I do,” Glinda nodded, eyes trained on the horizon.   
“Why?”  
“Nothing happened until he began to wake up. Then the monsters came and the Nightmares.” The blonde shifted uncomfortably in her saddle. “Everyone thought it was you. Either still alive or avenging your own death from beyond the grave. He didn’t truly wake until they took me to him. Then his ancient slumber was disturbed.”   
“You say that you were taken there. Did you go willingly?” Elpheba frowned, finding Glinda’s word choice interesting.   
“Yes. I didn’t have a choice.” The blonde sighed, her head bowed in some form of defeat.   
“Glinda.”  
“They made me go, I didn’t have a choice but to listen. They would’ve stoned me if I refused. It was...a long walk. But I think-I think Morpheus wanted to be woken. I was just a means to an end for him,” Glinda explained, her hands gripping the reigns tightly. “I’ve been fighting him ever since.”  
“So he’s our enemy then. Not a friend like the legends said.”   
“He’s an enemy to everyone they just don’t realize it.”   
“So he has supporters?” Elpheba scoffed, but truthfully she wasn’t too surprised.  
“Unfortunately,” Glinda snorted, glancing in Elpheba’s direction. The witch’s face was cast in shadow but Glinda could see the sadness in Elpheba’s dark eyes. “It’s not your fault you know. That he woke up. Legend said it would happen eventually. He’ll grow tired and fall asleep again. The cycle will continue centuries from now.”   
“Right,” Elpheba nodded. “You know, it’s been strange all alone on the perimeter.”  
“Alone? You have Fiyero.” Glinda noted.  
“I lost him a long time ago. He’s been different since we left. It wasn’t like I thought it would be. When I couldn’t turn him back he turned on me instead. He’s angry all the time.” The witch couldn’t help but picture her small house tucked into the mountain side with smoke billowing out of the chimney.   
“He doesn’t hurt you does he?” Glinda asked, her words holding a sharp edge. For a moment Elpheba feared the blonde was going to combust.   
“No. He doesn’t lay a hand on me.” The witch assured.  
“Good,” Glinda nodded, but she still seemed on edge. “You know, I don’t think I ever really liked him.”   
“What do you mean? You were head over heels!” Elpheba laughed.  
“I don’t know,” Glinda sighed, “I just-he reminded me of my dad a bit and he was exactly how I pictured the person I’d end up with. It was like the universe said ‘here he is you know what to do’ but that was it. I just wanted it to happen. I never needed it to.”   
“That makes sense,” Elpheba conceded.  
“Maybe it does maybe it doesn’t.” Glinda shrugged. “I don’t really care anymore.”   
“What do you care about?”  
The question prompted more than a simple answer from the good witch. Elpheba could tell by the way Glinda’s posture straightened and her shoulders tightened. “I care about everything.”   
“You used to-“  
“Care about myself, I know.” The blonde’s words were bitter.   
“No, you used to care about others so much you’d get sick over them,” Elpheba corrected. “You cared about me.”  
“That was my first mistake.”   
Glinda’s words hung in the air like a blade ready to fall and cut anything in its path. Elpheba wanted to break the ice, to say something else, but Glinda was done talking.   
— — —  
“We camp here for the night. It’s protected.” Glinda explained, studying the sky anxiously. The sun was nearly below the horizon and soon night would engulf them.   
“An abandoned tavern,” Elpheba noted.   
She followed Glinda inside along with the horses.   
“We can’t leave them outside or they’ll be torn to pieces,” the blonde informed, but Elpheba was busy studying the dusty tavern interior. Chairs were pushed in and nearly tucked beneath unblemished tables. Cobwebs hung from the candle laden chandeliers above. She could picture ghosts of people warm and happy crowding the scene.   
“What happened here?”  
“People grew afraid. They left everything behind,” Glinda explained, trailing her fingers over a tabletop. Then, with a moment of thought, she carefully scrawled her name in the dust. “I wanted to do the same.”  
“Why didn’t you?” Elpheba studied the delicate writing remembering how Glinda had tried so hard to perfect her signature. It seemed she finally had. It was elegant and beautiful just like her.   
“I had no where to go when this all happened.”  
“Your parents?”  
“I don’t know what happened to them,” Glinda admitted, her words catching in her throat. “I haven’t heard from them since Morpheus woke. There’s a good chance they’re dead.”   
“I-I’m so sorry.” The witch’s words were soft. Lighter than the dust that surrounded them. “They’d be proud of you, you know.”   
“How would you know? You never knew them.” Glinda accused, her eyes shining with tears.   
“I know you, and I-I’m proud of you.” Elpheba chewed nervously at her bottom lip. “You’re stronger than anyone I know. Stronger than me. And you’ve endured a lot without losing yourself.”   
“Like you did?” Glinda’s expression was a mix of pain, betrayal, and bitterness.   
“What I did was wrong. I know that now because you showed me.” The witch moved to touch the blonde, but Glinda retreated. All Elpheba wanted to do was comfort the other girl, to understand her pain, but Glinda didn’t want to share those broken pieces of herself with someone who’d abandoned her.   
“Get some rest. I’ll check outside to make sure it’s safe.” Glinda didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed her sword from where she’d placed it on a table and marched out into the dark. Elpheba was left alone.


End file.
